Band-aids
by Ohgress
Summary: Fireworks and waterfalls. Part 4 of The Riggsmer series.


The fireworks metaphor was such a cliché but honest to God, it was the only word Martin Riggs could think of to describe what he was feeling. It was like his brain was a 4th of July backyard party, no his whole body was a 4th of July party, firecrackers going off all over the lawn of his childhood home, multi-colored rockets blasting in the sky. It's was a rebirth, a resurrection and suddenly he started laughing. It's started as a low chuckle, then it grew to a full-grown laugh but next tears began forming in his eyes. The tears made his mind aware of the feeling that usually accompanied them and then he couldn't stop the tears because they reminded him of his loss. What had he done? Riggs fled into the bathroom.

They had ended up at Palmer's hotel after another dinner together and from there, natural forces had taken over, slamming into the door as soon as it had been closed.

"Tell me if I'm being too fast for you," she had said but Riggs just made a nod-shake of his head, liking the direction this was going. And there it was, desire. It hit him like a brick in the face. He wanted this. He wanted it so bad, to drown in this good feeling that he had almost forgotten what it was like. And considering how enthusiastic Palmer was being, it wasn't hard to follow. She ended up on top of him on the bed with every piece of their clothes discarded in record time, and she was enjoying it, enjoying him. It didn't take her long to get off and when she was coming down from her high, she was hugging him tight with her head on his chest. "It's been a while," she'd said with a chuckle and he couldn't stop the warmth that spread through him over seeing her smile at him. So he had kissed her and then they had changed places, movements heating up bodies again. Riggs willed his mind to only think of the now, of how good it felt, of being inside of her, eliciting the erotic sounds that was coming out of her mouth, her fingers grasping his hair hard as she came again. He had followed her over the edge and the 4th of July party of his body began.

Now his heart was beating a mile a minute and he had trouble breathing. Panic attack, great. And just a few minutes ago, he had been the king of the world again, so alive, so free. He knew how to handle the attack though. He sank down on the bathroom floor with the wall to his back, got rid of the condom in the bin and concentrated on regulating his breathing. It was working. His thoughts turned to Karen who was out there on the bed in her hotel room. She must wonder what the hell had gotten into him. Maybe she was wondering what she had done wrong? And that was the thing, she hadn't done anything wrong at all, not even a little bit. She had made him feel better than he'd ever felt in over a year, and now she was probably lying there, thinking she'd made a huge mistake. Fuck. He was such a mess. He couldn't have that. He couldn't have Karen thinking she'd done something wrong, so he rose on shaky legs, turned the faucet and splashed a good deal of cold water in his face. Once dried off and cleaned up a bit, he opened the bathroom door and peaked out. She was lying on her side under the covers, with her back to him, staring out the window or so it looked like to him. He felt sorry for her. This wasn't on her. He snuck back out and crawled under the covers behind her.

"Sorry about that," he said quietly looking at her blond hair splaying out over her pillow.

"It's okay, I get it," she nodded.

"Yeah, but… uh… it had nothing to do with you," Riggs said leaning up on his elbow. "I mean, it had, but you know… uh…" Riggs sighed. This wasn't going so great. He laid down again, staring at the ceiling. "I'm just gonna stop talking now."

Karen turned over and looked at him knowing eyes. "Riggs, I mean it. It's alright. We can be each other's band-aids together". She smiled carefully at him.

Riggs smirked. "It was a lot better than a band aid," he said with clear honesty in his voice. He reached out and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. She was beautiful and she knew the pain. That was all he needed. This was probably a really bad idea but so was sitting alone in his trailer feeling sorry for himself. Out of those two options, this was the least bad one.

"Come 'ere." He opened his arms to her and she snuggled into his chest. A satisfied sigh escaped him. Karen kissed his chest.

"I like you, Riggs," she murmured.

"Well, I like your bluntness, Palmer."

"Life's too short for game playing. It is what it is."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Second round later?" She asked sleepily, peaking up at him. "I'm just gonna take a nap here first."

Riggs chuckled. "Whatever you say, Palmer." He stroked her hair and closed his eyes, feeling himself drifting off too.


End file.
